Labour's Winter Fuel Payment 'incompetence' sees OAPs targeted by cyber criminals

Chaos caused by Labour's botched handling of the Winter Fuel Payment has seen OAPs targeted by cyber crime gangs.

Fraudsters have seized on the "incompetence" that saw cold weather cash snatched away by the Government before a humiliating ministerial climbdown forced it to be reinstated.

Campaigners said the shambles had created the perfect environment for thieves to prosper, with the annual social and economic cost of the abuse of older people now put at £16billion.

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whately said: "Labour's woeful handling of the Winter Fuel Payments knows no bounds.

"People who have worked hard all their lives were left in the cold last winter and now they are being exposed to scammers hoping to profit from Labour's incompetence.

"This should never have happened in the first place. Pensioners are being targeted by fraudsters because of Labour's callous choices."

After the year-long disarray over of the criteria for qualifying for Winter Fuel Payments - and last week's u-turn on cuts to disability benefits to ward off a mutiny by more than 120 Labour MPs - experts are now worried at an alarming increase in unsolicited messages sent via SMS, WhatsApp or emails inviting recipients to reply or click on links taking them to fake websites that can steal data and money.

Organised criminal gangs have seized on the muddle and are preying on those worried they do not qualify for the annual lump sum, which is paid automatically.

In the latest swindle "official reminder" text messages warn that failure to reply will result in ineligibility, further pressuring those fearful of missing out on what has become a financial lifeline to respond.

The targeted heist - which started at the weekend - is already thought to have conned hundreds of innocent victims causing "devastating consequences".

The sinister snaring of the vulnerable is part of an appalling epidemic in which cyber crime cartels pump out apparently genuine messages as part of a scam known as phishing.

The Daily Express has seen details of the scam in which people are notified in a message titled DWP Official Reminder of the need to act quickly to ensure prompt payment.

It states: "According to DWP records, you have not yet submitted your application. To ensure you receive your £300 payment please complete your application. Failure to submit your application by the deadline will result in your ineligibility to receive this allowance. Please act promptly and complete your application via the link below."

The rise in Winter Fuel Payment fraud has spooked the Department for Work and Pensions [DWP], which administers the benefit, and Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime.

Both were unaware of the latest scam when we passed on details and immediately issued warnings.

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK said: "Fraudsters are continually innovating to find new ways of scamming money out of their victims, so it's really important people remain vigilant to suspicious text messages, emails or calls. When changes are made to Government support like the Winter Fuel Payment, it gives scammers more ammunition with which to target people, and everyone should be extra careful if they receive a message or call offering help, as it may not be genuine, especially if it's from an unknown source.

"The most important thing to know is older people won't have to apply for a Winter Fuel Payment [which are] made automatically and only people with no DWP records will need to apply.

"Scams can have a devastating emotional and financial impact on older victims, seriously damaging their quality of life and well-being."

Veronica Gray of Hourglass, the charity dedicated to ending the harm, abuse and exploitation of older people, said: "Over the past three years, economic abuse cases received by our helpline showed financial losses by older victim-survivors across the UK totalling over £53million. However this figure comes from cases where a figure was disclosed - only 14% - so this is grossly underestimated.

"Hourglass estimates that at a minimum the total yearly social and economic cost to the UK of the abuse of older people is more than £16billion, and that this figure is most definitely an underestimate. And with an ageing population, it is only set to rise."

In one of its first acts after winning last year's general election Labour axed the universal cash entitlement, first introduced by Gordon Brown and paid to all pensioners since 1997, saying only those in receipt of Pension Credit would get it. It meant that instead of cash being automatically paid to 10.8 million pensioners in England and Wales the number was slashed to 1.5 million.

The move sparked national outrage but after relentless pressure from the Daily Express Chancellor Rachel Reeves was forced to make a chastening about-turn in the first of a series of embarrassing u-turns.

The new changes expand the threshold for receiving the benefit, meaning those with a pension below £35,000 now get it.

No pensioner will need to take any action as they will automatically receive the payment this winter, and for those with incomes above the threshold it will be recovered via HMRC.

The payment of £200 per household, or £300 per household where there is someone over 80, will be made to around 9 million. But the mess and resulting confusion has left pensioners in the lurch and at the mercy of criminals.

The DWP said: "If you get a text about Winter Fuel Payment it is a scam.

"We never send text messages or emails requesting your bank details for Winter Fuel Payment purposes.

"If you have any doubt whether a text is genuine, forward it to 7726 and you will receive a reply confirming if it's legitimate."

It is sickening that scammers are now targeting vulnerable pensioners. These phishing texts are cruel and opportunistic exploitation of the chaos created by Labour.

Pensioners are being told to click links or risk losing out on support they believe they are entitled to. Labour's scrapping of winter fuel payments for millions created this opportunity for scammers - and their u-turn has causing yet more confusion.

The result is the worst of all worlds - pensioners not only missing out on their winter fuel payments but now at risk of fraud too.

This should never have happened in the first place. The Winter Fuel Payment used to be automatic, predictable, and trusted. Labour took that away.

Starmer's callous decision to scrap payments for millions left older people in the cold, and now it's left them open to scams.

More than three quarters of a million pensioners missed out on support last winter, 71% of disabled pensioners lost their payments, and still Labour tried to justify it.

Even after their own figures showed the cut would push 100,000 pensioners into poverty, the Government pressed on, until public outrage forced a humiliating U-turn.

But that u-turn comes far too late. Because last winter, pensioners were forced to choose between heating and eating, thousands more ended up in A&E and now, many are being exploited by fraudsters in a crisis that Downing Street created.

We warned them. Again and again, I challenged the Prime Minister to reverse his cruel cut. He arrogantly dismissed it, until the political cost became too high to ignore. Now the country is left picking up the pieces after pensioners have been scammed, trust has been shattered, and despite all this, the Prime Minister still refuses to apologise.

Keir Starmer may have finally bowed to pressure, but this crisis bears his name.

Labour opened the door to confusion and criminal exploitation. It is now the Prime Minister's duty to answer for the mess he made.

Helen Whately is Conservative MP for Faversham and Mid Kent and Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions